Wings of Fire: The Touch Stone
by Redsaber2020
Summary: This my first ever Wings of Fire fan-fic story: Hector, a lonely scavenger who seeks to live a life of adventure, Summermoon, a hybrid of Rainwing and Nightwing trying to come to terms with her gift of sensing other's emotions. Together their paths will alter the ways of Pyrrhia...or bring about its greatest downfall.
1. Chapter 1

**_These events takes place long before the birth of Darkstalker and the fall of the Nightwing kingdom…_**

Long ago, the island of Pyrrhia, home to the seven mighty dragon clans were caught in a ruthless struggle for dominance. Still knew to each other and spilt by vast open plains the seven tribes held no connection, not even a simple basic means to speak to one other. Mistrust and conflict ran wild and battle quickly rose up without the slightest warning. Many within each clan feared the worst as every day was spent in eternal strife. Finally after several decades a young dragon, named Seaspray, cursed with the power to enchant anything he touch with unnaturally abilities, used these skills to create a stone that would allow all those to touch it speak the same language. Once then he ventured out into the world, risking his own safety to encounter other dragons to share this new found ability with. It was difficult at first, many dragons were openly hostile, weary of others and quick to attack, yet the dragon would not be deter knowing if something were not done and soon all of Pyrrhia would fall into darkness and ruination.

It had been several long months of wondering the open plains that Seaspray came upon a different dragon who did not immediately run away or threaten him. It was unlike any dragon he had ever seen, at first he took him for a common sea wing like himself but his built was all too wrong, he had none of the basic marking his ken used for speaking while under water, there was an odd thinness to his limbs that were not strong enough for him to swim against the sea currents, upon closer look he noticed that he didn't even have skin between his talons.

 _What kind of sea wing are you?_

Seaspray shook his head to clear the bizarre oddity before him though when he return his gaze to where the dragon stood, he was shocked to see he was gone.

 _Where did…_

His thoughts were broken as he felt something hard slam against his side. He stumbled about turned to face his would be foe though as he did there was no one there. Quickly Seaspray shifted he head from side to side though before he knew it, he felt another strike, this time along his face, in doing so, the touch stone slipped from his notch in his neck. Realizing that he was no match for whomever or whatever was attacking, he arched his back getting ready to take flight, though once again felt a powerful blow across the back of his legs causing him to fall flat across the ground. He was about to get up, but then felt a fierce grip along his neck at the base of his head.

As he laid there a frightening hiss formed from behind and a cold chill flowed over him as he felt something moving along his back until he took note of a strange looking shimmer before him. As his vision cleared, Seaspray was terrified to see the same strange looking dragon he saw across the clearing appear as though out of thin air, only this time there was a dark shade of red running along his scales, his black wings unfurled blocking out the sun and Seaspray could see what looked like slim dripping from his fangs which upon impacting the ground melted the grass and left small holes.

 _Acid!_ Seaspray's eyes widened in fright and struggled against his tight grip. _This dragon has acid tipped fangs._

"Stop struggling whatever you!"

Seaspray shot his gaze up to see the strange dragon glaring at him, confused for a moment by the fact that he could understand him. It took him a few moments to settle his rapid heart to realize that at some point this dragon must have come in contact with his touch stone.

Clearing his throat Seaspray relaxed his body, taking on a more submitting posture, glanced up at the terrifying blood red dragon and spoke as calmly as he could. "Uh…do you understand what I'm saying?"

The red dragon narrowed his eyes. "Of course I can."

"Then perhaps you wouldn't mind checking under your feet," Seaspray said, "I think you might be standing on something of mine."

As the red dragon glared at him, a strange thing happened to his scales as they seemed to change from dark red to a light green.

 _How did he do that?_

The moment did not last long as his scaled changed back their red hue and Seaspray could feel the grip on his neck tighten. "You must think I'm as slow as a sloth. I take my paws off you even for a minute and you'll tear into me."

"No!" Seaspray cried. He needed this dragon to trust him if his plan was ever take root, and maybe this strange dragon could help him in way he never could. "I swear by the queen of the Seawings that I will not harm you."

The strange dragon took on a look of confusion and the hues of his scales shifted once more ranging from red, blue, yellow and finally settling on shade of green. Releasing his grip on Seaspray, he began to shift his legs about examining each one until he revealed the touch stone wedged into his scales.

"You mean to tell me you got all worked up over a little rock."

A look of panic formed on Seaspray as it looked as though the strange dragon was about to toss his stone. "No don't!"

A ripple of color flowed about the strange dragon's body.

 _How does he keep doing that?_

"Why? What's so special about this hunk of rock?"

Seaspray slowly rose to his feet rubbing his forelegs about his body to get rid of the thick mud. "Look my name is Seaspray, I'm a Seawing dragon and I was born with a curse that allows me alter or enhance objects, and I used this ability to allow anyone that touches that stone to understand each other."

The strange dragon shifted his gaze between Seaspray and the stone several times a slight chuckle began to form. "Oh give me a break, you really expect me to believe any of that."

Seaspray looked rather annoyed with this dragon. Looking about, he spotted a small group of berries hanging from a tree, reaching up he gently placed a forepaw against them and thought, _Fly through the air and cling to whoever is holding the touch stone._ He then took a step back, eyeing the barriers noticing the subtle shift of movement as the magic took hold.

"You might want to drop the touch stone now."

"Why, what are you talking about—" the strange dragon said though stopped as one of the barriers flew across the air landing upon his shoulder, more barriers began to cling to him, and though no matter how many times he shook them loose they just kept on clinging to him.

"Alright, I believe you, now please make it stop."

Seaspray took hold of one of the barriers and undid the enchantment allowing them to fall peacefully about the ground. The strange dragon looked about them, growling as he eyed the barriers the colors of his scales changing once more as he began to stomp on them as an added measure.

"Just how do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Change the color of your scales like that," Seaspray said then began to illuminate his own scales giving the darken forest a green glow.

"All Rainwings can change their scale color," he spoke in a causal manner, "most of the time it shows how we feel."

"I don't think I ever heard of a Rainwing."

"We tend to keep ourselves," the Rainwing glanced back at the stone wedge between his scales looking very annoyed. "Can you please take this back now, it's really bugging me."

"Alright," Seaspray said gently plucking the touch stone.

Once the stone was gone, the Rainwing arched his back getting ready to take flight that is if Seaspray hadn't stopped him first. "Wait!"

"Oh for crying out loud, what now? You got your stupid stone now get lost before I finished what I started."

"No you don't understand, you could be of some really big help."

The Rainwing arched an eyebrow. "How?"

"Well…" Seaspray said though pausing as he had to think carefully about it, "you have to understand that the world beyond this jungle is filled with different dragon tribes."

The Rainwing released an annoyed scoff. "Well of course, where have you been all this time, living under a rock?"

Seaspray fought to restrain his temper. _Are all Rainwings as rude as this one?_ "That's not the real problem; it's that none of the tribe speak the same tongue. With that stone I can get everyone to share a common language and help build a measure of trust and understanding."

"I have to say that's a bold plan," the Rainwing muttered eyeing the touch stone, "but it would take you years to touch enough dragons with just one stone. Why not just make it so everyone can speak the same way?"

Seaspray released a low sigh. "I did think of that, but I've been warned about using my magic in such a way. A spell of that magnitude would take too much strength and…" he paused looking away.

Something in the way Seaspray looked must have caught the Rainwing's attention for he turned to look at him with a solemn expression. "What…what is it?"

"There is a reason why animus dragons are considered a curse, it's because the more magic we use, the more of our soul is drained from us, until we are nothing more than enraged monsters killing anyone…even those we care for…in our path. It is said that one day, the same thing will happen to me and my kin will be forced to kill me before I cause any harm."

"Whoa," the Rainwing said in a hushed tone, "sorry to hear about that. But even still you might not live long enough to see your dream fulfilled with just one stone."

"Yes but now that I know my enchantment works, perhaps I can do the same to other stones, and with the help of your kin's ability to disappear like that…"

For the first time since encountering this dragon, a smile formed on the Rainwing's face. "That could work. You'll need to discuss this with our queens, but after seeing what you can do with those berries then it should be easy to win them over. By the way, my name is Mist."

With Mist's help, Seaspray related his plans with the Rainwing queens a group of female dragons who ruled over their kingdom at different times of the year. None of them seemed overly convince at first but after experiencing the effects of the touch stone first hand, his goal appeared close to fulfillment. With their help, the Rainwings were able to spread the effects of Seaspray's touch stone magic throughout the known realm allowing all the tribes to speak and understand one another equally. It was difficult at first and there was still a level of mistrust among the dragons. The sudden and unexplained wealth of understanding confused and in some ways frighten some, while other saw it as great way to share new idea and lifestyle.

After long decades of mistrust and fighting, Seaspray's dream had become reality. With little need of the touch stones now, they were discarded throughout the realms, all but forgotten.

Until for one fateful night...


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

Hector ran through the dense jungle, his feet leaving small deep groves in the muddy ground. It was raining again, had been for about four days now, but that was nothing new. There were several times in his life where rain lasted whole months bringing with it the threat of flood or worse mudslides. None of that really bothered him or the booming sound of thunder that drummed over the horizon or the flashes of lightning that lit up the sky. No, what truly terrified him, what drove and urged him on was what lingered within the storm clouds.

Dragons.

For as long as Hector knew, the massive winged lizard ruled these lands and though he never before faced one, their cries could be heard for miles and often enough the skies above would darken as their shadows past over head.

From time to time he had heard strange tales about the dragons, how some could breath fire while oddly enough other breathed ice, that some could change color or even move through shadows and how there were those that swam like fish. All nonsense as far as he was concern, right now all he wanted was to put as much distance between him and them as possible. That was not entirely true. He held no grudge against dragons; they were clearly the masters of the realm, and their powers and dominations were seen far and wide, and however frightening and furious they appeared to the world, he could not help but feel a bit of awe and wonder each time he saw them flying among the clouds, secretly wishing to be up there with them.

There were those among his kind that said he was foolish, that their kind had no business walking along side dragons and that all they could be seen as were their pets. Well Hector had no wish for that life, always running or hiding, to cower in fear or be fondled like some play thing. He sought something grander, wishing to be bold and brave, to make his mark on the world that would be remembered for years to come.

A sudden flash of lightning flared causing him to jump back as the light seemed to reveal the outline of a dragon. In doing so however, Hector found himself landing heavily in a pile of mud—at least he hoped it was mud. The dragon loomed before him was twice as big as a full grown cow and its scale were colored in hues of dark blue and black. Another flash flared revealing more of the scaly beast and Hector cringed, waiting for it to strike, yet it had not moved an inch or even behaved in a threatening manner. It just stood there.

 _Way to go Hector, you just scared yourself by a statue craved in the shape of a dragon._

Standing up, Hector ran his hands along his body, removing the layer of mud sending it scattering about where some of it landed upon the statue which brought about a slight chuckle thinking it looked rather better that way. The rain began to settle, the thick dark clouds parting to allow the gentle glow of two of the three moons to bath the jungle in an eerie light. A rustling drew his attention, turned around drawing a small dagger from his waist, only to calm down once more upon discovering the sound came from a young sloth scurrying through the tall grass. "Lame beast," Hector grumbled, mainly to himself for allowing himself to be scared by such a small creature. "Get out of here," he snapped kicking dirk into the path of the sloth to frighten it away, "before you whined dragon chow." It took a bit of effort but Hector finally managed to scare the beast off to where he disappeared into the shadows of the jungle. Smiling with himself, he sheathed his dagger and slowly turned back around to face the statue.

And yet the statue was gone.

Panic began to race through him, whipping the dagger once more though now there was a slight twinge to the blade.

 _What the…where did it go, statues just don't move on their own. Don't they?_

Hector took several steps back, glancing from side to side, praying to see—or more pointy not—any trace of the statue he encountered. More rustling sliced through the still air and mixed with it was the bone chilling hiss of a dragon. Eyes wide open, heart thumping so fierce it could burst through his chest, Hector slowly glanced over his shoulder, jaw going slack, the warmth from his face leaking out, most certainly making it appear completely white, hands trembling to where his grip on the dagger failed him allowing it fall about the ground.

For a dragon…a true dragon…stood before him, eyeing him with dead blue eyes. It had the same built and size as the statue yet there seemed to be a strange shift in its scales, changing from dark blue to shades of green and hues of black, as though it could not decide what color it wanted to be.

Hector's heart thumped even faster. These were the dragons he feared the most, those who moved unseen, struck without warning and left you dying long before you knew what had brought about your end.

Every impose within him told—screamed is more likely—to run yet fear ruled his body, preventing him from moving an inch.

The dragon slowly lifted a foreleg, its curved claws reaching out for him.

That alone was enough to get him moving. With his blood pumping, Hector bolted from the dragon, however with all the rain fall the ground had become far too loose and slippery and could go no more than a few feet before falling face first in the pile of muck once more—and in doing so confirmed his early fears. This was not mud.

Shooting a glance over his shoulder he could see the dragon was still coming for him, slower than before with what looked like an expression of disgust on its face, but seeing how he had just fallen in a patch of dung that was understandable. In fact if his life were not in mortal danger he would find it almost amusing. Pushing through his own feeling, Hector crawled across the ground, digging his fingers through the loose earth in a vain effort to escape. Deep down though he knew there was little chance of making it out of this alive. Even if he could regain his footing this dragon could easily catch up, pin him to the ground and rip him apart with its fangs or worse snatch him off his feet and carry him across the air to who knows where to be feast upon.

As he increased his efforts to escape his hands came upon a rock no bigger than his head. As he pulled it free from the ground, a strange sensation ran up his arm, but pushed the feeling aside as survival weighed far more heavily. With a firm grip upon the rock, Hector rolled onto his back, shouted a battle cry he hoped would make him appear fiercer then he truly felt and chucked the rock squarely for the dragon's snout.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2

 _Just how do I get myself into these things?_

That very question rolled about Summermoon's mind as she and two other dragonets roamed the jungle in search for the Nightwing princess favorite sloth.

"Ugh…" one of the dragonets cried out in disgust. "I think I just stepped in something."

"Maybe Razor is up his old habits again," the other one replied, "that cranky old Nightwing keeps saying how much better it is to eat day old food."

"Yuck," he said shaking his forepaw then turned to face Summer. "We've been out here all night; can't you just use your special ability to find that blasted fur ball?"

Summermoon—Summer to her friends—released a deep sigh. Ever since it was revealed that Moonwatcher held the power to read minds and foresee the future, Nightwing mothers sought approval to lay their eggs in direct moon light, though at the time their queen, Glory had refused the notion, going on about the possible threat of another Darkstalker being born, but after years of discussion—more like pleading—from her mate, Deathbringer, Glory felt it might be worth it as the gains clearly outweighed the risk. Though there was a lasting peace between the seven tribes, thanks in great dealing with the Jade Academy there were still dangers lurking about, and a dragon who could pluck them from a crowd with a simple glance or prevent life threatening conflict before it could even take place was almost too good to pass up.

There were rules and guidelines the Nightwings had to follow. Out of all the Nightwing eggs laid, only ten were selected to hatch under the light of the full moon and out of those, only four were born with both the power to read mind foresee the future.

Surprisingly she had been one of the few to be blessed with the ancient Nightwing powers to read mind, however unlike the others, she was not a full Nightwing. Her mother Shadowclaw loved her fellow kin and struggled tirelessly in her pursuit to rebuild the old Nightwing city stating how wrong it was to allow ancient and petty fears sway them, and yet throughout all that she allowed her heart to be taken by a Rainwing, and so when it came time for her abilities to be tested, Summermoon realized she could not hear the thoughts of anyone, only their emotion, and even then only as faint whispers.

Regardless of her failure, Shadowclaw had proclaimed her love for Summermoon without question, yet Summer could feel the shame and disappoint flowing through her mother which only caused a rift to form between them making it all but impossible to express her feeling for her. She never knew her father and most likely never would seeing how Rainwings were nearly just the same as any other. Like all other Rainwings she held the ability to alter the colors of her scales, though only in hues of blue, black and green. This proved to be a problem with the endless taunts the other dragonets proclaimed every time they saw her.

 _Hey there Summermoon, you must be awfully sad a lot seeing how you're always so blue._

 _You're looking rather green there Summermoon. Did you eat some rotten fruit?_

 _Best not go out at night, no one will be able to find you._

How she would have given anything to have been born with acid fangs. That would shut them up.

"Summer!"

Summer jerked her head toward the Nightwing, his eyes were narrow, wings held close, back arched as if ready to strike. She didn't need her gift to tell he was angry.

"Are you even listening?"

"Yes Blackberry," she said with a pause as the sensation of amusement watched off from the other Nightwing.

Blackberry was the oldest of the recent new hatchlings and at the time his mother had become rather fond of the tasty fruits so when it came time to name him, she thought what better to expression her love then to name him what she treasured most out of life. Blackberry though found the name insulting making him appear weak and cowardly and more often than not started fights with anyone who mocked him about it.

"And to answer your first question, no I can't."

"But I thought you could read minds," the other Nightwing whispered.

Summer turned to her other friend, Ravenclaw or just plain Raven, who though despite her name or appearance might suggest was a very sweet and rather timid dragon, sometimes jumping at the slightest noise, and in a jungle where almost everything—even the air—made a noise she was pretty jumpy.

"Sorry Raven but I can only sense emotions and right now with three dragonets stomping through the trees," she paused to turn her head to the side, "and a thunderstorm on the way, every living thing here is flowing with fear."

"Wait a minute," Blackberry said jerking his head Summer's way, "how do you know there's a storm coming. I thought you only—" his words were drowned out by a sudden loud thunderclap and the first signs of droplets slapping his muzzle.

"If you must know," Summer said, a grin forming as the sensation of surprise and embarrassment rolled off Blackberry, "I have very good hearing and the elders have been going on about it for days now. It was only a matter of time before they got it right."

Raven laughed while Blackberry causally flicked his tail through the tall grass. "Yeah well any who let's get this over with," he said with a low growl, "I don't know why we're doing this to begin with. I mean can't Queen Hookshadow get her daughter a new pet sloth?"

"It wouldn't matter," Summer said, "I felt how sad Rosethorn was when she discovered her pet missing. She won't accept a new one so easily."

"Then we should split up," Raven offered, "we could search more ground that way."

Blackberry rolled his eyes. "Fine, just so long as I can still meet up with the squad for battle training. You never know when those Desert Crocs might strike next."

The Desert Crocs Blackberry spoke of were a band of rogues made up of Sandwing and surprisingly Mudwings who were not completely happy with the current state of affairs. There had been several account of infighting among the tribes and even an attempt on the Mudwing queen. With all the turmoil still swirling in the background of Pyrrhia the need for the return of the ancient Nightwing powers became all the more clear.

With that settled Blackberry made his way east and Raven taking a western route, Summer carried on ahead, toward the Rainwing side of the jungle. It made sense that a sloth would wish to be around more familiar dragons. The storm opened up shortly afterward, water falling in massive surges leaving her drenched to her bone. With the others gone, the swell of emotions began to ease and she could pick out several small wooden creatures scurrying about to avoid the down pour, but still no trace of the sloth. Stretching out her senses, she was surprise when she picked up something else, the sensation of fear was still present but mixed with was a feeling of awe and wonder which felt a little out of place in a jungle full of dragons. Drawing on the sensation, Summer made her way toward it and was even more surprised to see it was a scavenger. _What's a scavenger doing this deep in the jungle?_ She thought. _There's no way it could have gotten past the boarder guards. Not unless it can read minds._ She had never seen one before, but heard several stories about them and how most royal and high class dragons kept them as pets. There was also talk of a city full of them built along the edge of the Sandwing boarder.

Drawing closer to the scavenger, Summer shifted her scales to a dark gray to help her blend into the darkness. Though she could not disappear completely she could still make it hard for this creature to see her. A flash of light rippled through the air and not want to be seen she stood as still as possible hoping that her gray scales would not give her away, at the same time, a surges of emotions watched over her from the scavenger and it jumped back, falling into a pile of dung.

 _Oh for crying out loud,_ she thought scrunching up her nose, _and here I thought that thing smelled bad enough already._

Standing there as still as possible she watched the scavenger picked itself back up, flicking loose flacks of dung from its body and laughed a little when some of it landed on her.

 _Oh if you weren't protected by royal law you'd be so…_

Her train of thought was broken as she shot her glance beyond the scavenger and spotted another creature hidden among the trees. Focusing on the clump of tall grass she nearly gasped as she spotted Rosethorn's pet sloth. Normally those lazy lumps of fur looked just like every other one, but Rose had personally fitted her pet with a necklace made of red gemstones she could attach a leach to for whenever she decided to take it with her during one of her usual flights over the jungle. Looking back to the scavenger, Summer saw that its back was facing her and quickly slipped back into the shadows of the jungle, making her way toward the sloth. It must have spotted her for it sat rigid as though waiting to be picked up, but before she could even lay her paws on it, a loud cry rung out from behind, shifting her gaze to the side, she was shocked to see the scavenger waving its arms about and flinging stones about, sadly its actions scared the sloth away to where it disappeared into the jungle.

 _Damn scavenger, I almost had it._

Summer came to stand behind him, narrowing her eyes and growled a bit. Her actions caused the scavenger to take notice of her and slowly turned around, the sensation of fear forming in the air. It dropped the small knife it held and stumbled about falling into the pile of dung again.

"Okay, scavengers are completely revolting things," she said. "Now come on and let's get you cleaned up."

Summer then reached out for the thing, its fear rolling off it like a river. "Don't be afraid," she said though suppressing an annoyed sigh, "as though you even know what I'm saying."

Of course it didn't listen, if anything her actions only served to terrify the poor creature that much more as it attempted to crawl away like a snake.

"You're a very funny little thing," Summer whispered licking the rim of her mouth, she had been told that there were rules against eating scavengers and though the idea of eating meat repulsed her—most likely due to her Rainwing father—she was tempted to try a little bit. _Maybe it wouldn't mind losing an arm._

Her thoughts were broken as she something smack the front of her muzzle. A strange sensation flowed across her body causing her toes to curl and the tip of her tail to rattle like one of those Sandwings. She brought a forepaw up to her face only to pull back as she felt the painful sting across her nose and startled to see blood smeared along her paw.

"That's it!" she snapped eyeing the scavenger, "law or no law, you're dead."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3

The sight of blood flowing from the dragon's nose stirred Hector, giving rise to a possible victory or at the very least escape from this rampaging beast. Acting quickly he took hold of the dagger in front of him, jumped to his feet and began to swing the small blade back and forth shouting for all his worth. "Get away from me, you monster."

"Just who are you calling a monster?"

A confused expression formed on Hector's face and looked up to eye the dragon, baffled to see it held a similar expression.

"What…what did you say?"

The dragon stood rigid for a moment, its scales shifting in color from: black, blue green, until finally settling on a dark shade of purple. Witnessing the scene unfold brought a slight giggle from Hector, which he suppressed immediately. It would do him no good to tease the monster who was about to eat you.

His actions must have taken notices by the dragon as it shifted its neck about, appearing somewhat startled by the color of its scales. "Oh my, I've never turned purple before."

Hector released a bout of fake coughs as to get the amusing image of the purple dragon out of his mind.

The dragon took notice of him once more, its scales shifting from blue to black, a fierce expression riddled across its head. "And what may I ask makes you feel like laughing?"

Hector glared up at the dragon, pointing his dagger at it as if the action alone would be enough to frighten the beast away. "Will you stop that!"

"Stop what?"

"Getting in my head, that's what."

The confused look returned the dragon. "Uh?"

"Well how else can you explain how I'm hearing this strange voice, if you're not putting it in my head?"

"I'm sorry to break any notions you might have of me being a mind reader," the dragon said, "but this how I normally speak, though I have to say I'm very impressed, I don't think I've heard of a scavenger who could speak dragon."

For a moment Hector merely stood there, his mind unable—unwilling—to understand what was going on. Only a few minutes ago what were nothing more than a slur of rambling grunts, deep throated growls and angry hisses, now flowed forth as common words as clear as day, with a female voice that sounded almost musical. The more he thought about it, the crazier the notion grew. The sensation of nausea formed in the pit of his stomach, until he felt his legs finally give way and he welcomed the oncoming smack of the muddy earth if only to relieve himself of this nightmare.

Though Summer could not read mind like the others, she knew the signs of when one was going to vomit or pass out. "Whoa there!" she cried moving quickly to catch the scavenger in the membranes of her wings, mere moments before landing in the pile of dung once more. "I don't know what you scavenger find appealing about rolling in dung, but I think once is good enough."

Summer gazed down at the scavenger, it looked so peaceful and calm now that it was asleep. The fear and confusion flowing off it had faded and was left with a sense of wonder, though Summer found it difficult to tell if the sensation came from the scavenger or herself.

How was it that they could suddenly understand one another? Could it be true that they were somehow sharing each other's thoughts? The voice she heard from this…male…yes it was indeed a male, was strong and bold that nearly made her wobble yet she sensed a soft tenderness as well.

She had to know more about this young scavenger.

Though first she had to get him clean.

Hector awoke to the stinging sensation of cold water. Eyes wide open, he thrashed about only to find something pressing against his shoulders. After taking a glance behind him, he was even more shocked and over come with fear at the sight of the dragon he encountered in the jungle looking down at him with a faint smile.

"Get away from me!" he shouted thrashing about with even greater effort. "Let me go!"

"Nothing doing," the voice he heard before calling, "Not until you're fully clean. You wouldn't believe the layer of slim I've had to scrub off of you."

"I don't care," he snapped pushing against the dragon's paw. "I hate the water, I can't swim, now let me go!"

The dragon released what sounded a like an annoyed grunt before adding. "Don't be such a hatchling. The pond is not even that deep. Now please just hold still I'm just about done."

Realizing he had no real say in the matter, Hector relented, hoping for a better chance to escape later. Truthfully the dragon was right; the small pond she held him in did not appear very deep as he could feel his toes brushing along the bottom. Looking down, a new sensation of fear swelled up inside upon discovering he was nude and quickly plunge his arms below the water crossing his hands to conceal himself. "Uh…where are my clothes?"

"I placed them in a patch of sun light to let them dry. They were as smelly as you."

"So," Hector said glancing back up at the dragon, "you've seen me naked?"

"What an odd thing to feel embarrassed about," the dragon said her female musical voice echoing in the small chamber, "it's not like I've never seen a naked mammal before, though you have less fur than a sloth."

Hector could help but wonder if he had just been insulted or not, only that this madness had gone on long enough. Glancing up and raising his arms, palm out flat in a pleading manner he said in a causal tone, "Okay I'm ready to wake up now."

"What?"

Hector shot a glance over his shoulder, eyeing the dragon with her purple scales glittering in the faint light. _She's almost radiate._ Hector mentally slapped his forehead for even thinking such things…and about a dragon no less.

Realizing that the dragon was still gazing down at him as though waiting for an answer, he took a deep breath before saying, "Well this is nothing but a dream okay. Any minute now I'm going to wake up in front of that dragon statue still covered in mud and grime, so as much fun as this has been I think it's—"

Hector's ranting was cut short as the dragon brought her tail about slapping its tip across his shoulder.

"What the?"

"Sorry," the dragon said with an amusing expression, "did that hurt?"

"Well yeah," Hector said, though truly wished he hadn't which meant…

"Then this is not a dream," the dragon said as though reading his thoughts.

"Then all of this, me being able to understand you. This is all really happening?"

"Yes," the dragon said eyeing Hector as though looking for something. "Well you're all cleaned. I'll wait for you outside while you get dressed."

Summer sat before the cave opening. The rain had stopped altogether and the heat from the midday sun made short work of the thin layer of water giving rise to a soft gray mist giving the jungle a mysterious appearance. She always loved these times of day. Like so many Rainwings her scales felt energized while in the path of sunlight, and where as most Nightwings slept throughout the day, these were moments she felt the most active, tending to the crops with the other Rainwings or checking on their live stock to make sure nothing go loose.

 _I should be there right now,_ she thought a frown forming, _not wasting my time with some crazed scavenger._ But the notion that they could understand one another still baffled her. A part of her wondered if this was another part of her Nightwing gifts she was born with. This was her first encounter with a scavenger after all. Maybe the ability was there all along and it just needed a well place jolt to bring it out.

 _Though,_ she thought rubbing the shore part of her muzzle, _did it have to hurt so much?_

A sudden rise of merriment and annoyance enveloped her and turned her gaze up just in time to see a pair of dragons circling above.

"Hello there Summer."

Summer rose to her feet stepping back a bit to give her two friends room to land.

A smile formed on her face as she quickly greeted them, rubbing her face along their own. "Peacemaker," she said with pleasure, then stepped back to bow politely to the other Rainwing, "and it is good to see you Princess Firefly."

Firefly's scales went through a series of colors so swiftly it almost made Summer dizzy. "You know you don't have to refer to me as Princess."

"True, but I still like to."

As much as Summer enjoyed her time with Blackberry, Raven, and her fellow winglets from the Jade Academy, she loved to be around these two as they each shared one common trait. They were all hybrids. Firefly, daughter of Queen Glory of the Rainwing and Nightwing Deathbringer, caption of the Rainwing honor guard. The young Rainwing princess lived up to her parents' willful and brash nature, never wanting to place others in harm's way but always stood ready for a fight should the need call for it. The one thing that set them apart was how Firefly held a far better control of changing the colors of her scales.

And then there was Peacemaker, a true oddity among Rainwings, though not much was known about his father, his mother Hope claimed to share fond memories of their time together and the blissful, joyful emotions that flowed from her whenever someone mentions him was enough proof for her. Peacemaker was the perfect example of a Rainwing; always full of merriment, love to take long naps in the sunlight and held a great interest in strawberries and making pies. Though several years older than her, he held an almost childlike mind and she found the amusement watching over her every time they crossed path refreshing.

"Hello there Summermoon," he said with a bold smile unfurling his wings a bit.

 _Oh my,_ Summer thought with a flutter in her heart.

The one thing that always lit a fire within Summermoon, were Peacemaker's wings. Unlike any other Nightwing or Rainwing, the membranes of his wings were a beautiful array of colors. She loved to watch him soar over head; a living rainbow that was her's alone. _If only I was brave enough to tell him how I truly feel._

The awkward silence that fell upon Summer was broken as Peacemaker grunting heavily. "Say uh Summer I was thinking about making some of my favorite strawberry pies, would you care to join us?"

Summer would more than love to join him; she loved how he placed so much pride and joy into making his pies. She was about to answer him when she took note of the look on Firefly's face, the deep red shift around her eyes, and the sensation of anger burning off her. Before Summer knew it, the young princess was upon her, clamping her forepaws about the base of her neck whispering, "Don't you dare. I've had nothing to do but eat his strawberry pies every morning for the past week. If I have to go through it once more I might very well lose my mind."

Summer was at a loss for words, she knew Firefly had a temper but for her to snap like this out of the blue caught her off guard. She was about to say something when noise drew her attention and shot a glance over her shoulder barely catching a glimpse of the scavenger, then turned her gaze to her friends. She didn't really know what to expect on how they'd react, but she had to know the truth, and most of all she knew they would be open minded.

"Uh…I'd love to," she said twitching a bit as she was over a sensation of fear. _Scavenger can be so terrified sometime._ "But before that there's something I want you to see."

Summer then turned to the side, lowering her neck to gaze into the cave. "Come out scavenger, these are my friends they won't hurt you."

Feelings of confusion flowed from her friends. "Did you just saying scavenger?" Firefly asked.

As if on cue the small scavenger emerged from the shadows. He wore his outer pelts, patting them down to remove any wrinkles, he eyed the three at them in turn and Summer could feel a layer of fear swelling off of him, but there was something else, amazement.

"Ah it looks so cute," Firefly said, "Summer where did you find it?"

"I came across him while looking for Rosethorn's pet sloth."

"Why are you referring to it as _him_?" Peacemaker asked.

"Well," she began knowing there was no turning back after she uttered these next few words, "I can tell by the way he talks."

The baffled feeling grew in volume. " _Talks_?" Firefly muttered. "You mean grunts right."

"No he really can speak," she said then turned to glance down at the scavenger, "go ahead, say something."

"Hello," he said plainly, the strong tone of his voice ringing in her ears, "my name is Hector."

"So your name is Hector," Summer said eyeing him, "well it'll be easier for me to refer to you other than scavenger," she chuckled to herself thinking how brash he behaved showing no sign of the fear she felt earlier.

"Well?" she muttered turning back to her friends who still appeared baffled, giving off a mixture of confusion and annoyance.

"Uh, I know Mirage meant it as a joke when we met him at the Jade Mountain Academy," Firefly said in a harsh manner, "but honestly, lay off the cactus juice."

Now it was Summer's turn to feel confused. "What?"

"Summer, all that scavenger did was grunt and mumble," Firefly said bluntly, "that's all they can say."

Confusion began to give way to panic and fear as her friends doubted her words. "Please you have to believe me, he can speak like us. Peacemaker?"

"I'm sorry Summermoon," he said calmly, "I don't know what to believe. You've always been different, maybe this is just another part of it," he paused in an attempt to stifle a yawn, "for right now I'm beat. I think I'll take a nap. Care to join me Firefly?"

"Yes," she said turning her gaze away from Summermoon, "anything is better then listening to this nonsense."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 4

Hector stood back, arms up to shield his face as the two dragons took flight, his attention quickly rooted on the one Summer referred to as Peacemaker and how his wings flared in a set of different colors. He wasn't all too keened on the female one, the one they called Firefly, her short temper and ease to bad mouth Summer seemed to rub him the wrong way. There was nothing he could say in the matter, so long as dragons controlled the realm of this land, what he thought or believed was meaningless.

"I don't understand."

He glanced up as he heard Summermoon's voice.

"Why didn't they understand you?"

"Uh…" Hector tried to think of something to say, but the strangeness of speaking with dragon as though it were a common thing went way over his head. "Well what did Peacemaker mean when he said you were different?"

"I have the ability to feel emotions," Summer said, her voice calm and level, "it's part of my Nightwing blood line."

Hector gave it some thought, though still felt vague as to how to help. "So you think it's because of that is why we're able to speak with each other."

"Yes."

"But then how is it that I was able to understand those other two dragons just now?"

Summer arched an eyebrow. "You heard all of that?"

"Yeah," Hector said and gently bumped his elbow against her hind leg, "and was it me or were you looking at the male dragon rather fondly?"

Summer's scales turned into a light shade of purple.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"Okay so maybe I do have some feelings for Peacemaker," she said with a sigh, "but I can't imagine him being with me. He's really hard to judge, and his emotions relate only to his love of pies and naps."

"Sounds like kind of odd ball."

Summer turned on Hector, releasing a low growl, to which Hector counted with a quick pleading gesture. "Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean anything by it."

His actions must have worked as Summer seemed to settle down a bit.

"Well regardless to any of that," Summer said with a deep sigh, "we're still no where closer to figuring out how or why we can understand one another. Tell me, has there been any other scavenger that spoke with dragons?"

Hector took in a deep breath of air which caused his cheeks to puff up..

The sight of that caused Summer to giggle.

Taking note of this, Hector shot her an accusing look. "What?"

"You look like one of those crazy blow fish the Seawings talk about."

"I don't even know what that is."

"I'll see if the one in my winglet group will catch one for you."

Hector rolled his eyes waving a hand about. "I think we're getting topic again."

"You're right sorry, I think I'm still reeling from when you smacked me with that rock," Summer said rubbing the front of her muzzle, "that really hurt you know. I think you might have broken my nose back there."

"I'm not going to apologize for that," Hector snapped, "I thought you were going to eat me." A sudden thought came to him and rose to his feet and turned to face Summer. "Wait a minute, now that I think about this all happened after hitting you."

"So?"

"So, what if what caused this to happen to us could be related to that rock?"

Summer rose to her feet, glancing down at Hector with a warm smile. "You might be right, now that I think about it I did feel something strange after you hit me. What about you?"

"I did feel something, but I thought it was just the rush of the moment…you know facing down a fire breathing dragon and all."

An annoyed expression formed on Summer's face. "Are you going hang that in front of my muzzle every chance you get? I already told you there are laws against harming scavenger," she paused to take a deep breath to clear the air, "so do you really feel that this stone caused us to understand each other?"

"It's the only thing that makes sense at this point."

"Then let's go back to where we met and hope the stone is still there. It should be easy for me to sniff it out," she paused to smile at Hector, "seeing how it should still be coated with my blood from where you hurled it at my nose."

"Now who's the one being snippy?"

"Funny, just promise me one more thing before we go."

"What?"

"Don't go and fall in any more dragon dung, that stuff smells awful."

The two of them went back to the jungle clearing where they both spoke to each other for the first time. Summer shifted her nose through the loose tall grass while Hector searched about the nearby tree roots. After several minutes of searching and a number of failed attempts of determining which rock enchanted them, Summer was beginning to lose any hope of finding it, and even if they could find it, what then? What good was a stone that allowed dragons to speak with scavengers? There was not much they were good for other than pets, and given Hector's rash actions she didn't think he would make for a very decent one. Maybe she could give the stone to Winter, former Icewing prince. She had heard he was one of the key founders for Sanctuary, the city built just for scavengers, and if there was one dragon she knew who held a passion for understanding them it would be him.

Still, Summer found herself pondering more about the strange stone, who made it and importantly, why.

"Hey Summer," Hector called, "over here!"

Summer turned to face the scavenger, standing next to a small rock. She scuffed at first thinking how foolish he was jumping about like that, though after taking a closer look noticed there was a strange glint to the rock and a small amount of dried blood along the rim.

"So you think this could be the same stone?" she said approaching him.

"It's possible," Hector said kneeling down and ran a hand along the rock.

"Do you…" She said, focusing on him with keen eyes, "Do you feel anything?"

"Well seeing how we already understand one another…I would say no."

Summer gave him a cross look, arching an eyebrow. "Was that supposed to be an insult?"

"No I'm being serious here," Hector said casting his gaze about the clearing, "if only there was another dragon around to touch it."

Summer did the same, and though the clearing looked empty, her gift gave her an extra edge in picking out those who wished to remain unseen. After several passes she rooted on a fallen tree covered in vines. Narrowing her eyes, she focused her senses and then spoke in a causal tone, "Alright Lemondrop, you might as well show yourself, I know you're there."

"Are you…hck…kidding me?"

Hector turned to the sound of the voice and jumped back at the sight of a Rainwing slowly appearing out of thin air. The dragon was composed of bright yellow and orange scales, and held some strange kind of fruit in a forepaw and causally took several bights of it. With each chew, his eyes seemed to widen, a blank expression forming on his face and seemed to wobble about as he approached them.

"I was really working hard on my stealth skill," he said, a number of slurs in his voice. "Now I'll never get into the honor guard."

Summer lowered her head to level her gaze with Hector. "Lemondrop here is a member of my winglet group at the Jade Mountain Academy."

"What's wrong with him?" Hector asked.

"He get's this way a lot. Seems to enjoy eating fruit that he claims gives him a buzz."

"And he wants to be a member of your guards?"

Summer released a playful chuckle as she eyed Lemondrop. "Are you kidding, he couldn't get into the honor guard if his life depended on it."

"Hey now," Lemondrop said, attempting to sound harsh, yet his voice was riddled with fits of giggles. "Am I totally wasted here or are you talking with that there scavenger?"

Summer raised her head back up to eye Lemondrop, though her gaze shifted down to the stone. Maybe this was the best way to see if their notion of it allowing those who touch to understand each other is true.

"Say Lemon, what do you say about touching this rock here." She gave the stone a playful shove to where it rolled next to the Rainwing, just short of touching him.

Lemondrop eyed the rock, then turned back to stare at Summer. "A rock? You want me to touch a rock? Really?"

Summer came to stand beside the Rainwing, giving him a gentle bump. "Come on Lemon, you know you want to. Just think of the buzz you'll get. This stone has been sitting out in the mud and rain all night long, just image how cold it would feel."

A sparkle formed in Lemondrop's eyes and chuckled like a young hatchling. "You know I do like things that are cold. It was pretty funny, back at the Jade Mountain, I licked the wall after Aurora blast it with her freeze breath, and my tongue got stuck to it all day—"

"Lemondrop!" Summer snapped, eyes narrowing losing her temper with this drunken fool. "You need to focus here. Just touch the stone, this is important."

"Alright already," Lemondrop said, a sensation of annoyance flowing off him. "If it will make you happy I'll touch the damn stone."

Summermoon stepped to the side as Lemondrop reached out toward the stone, and as his claw brushed against it, a sudden jolt rippled across his body causing his scales to change color in sparkling hues of blue, green and yellow.

 _Is that what happened to me?_ Summer thought, looking down at Hector, she noticed that he was reacting in a similar fashion. Turning back to Lemondrop, she saw him stepping away from the stone, swaying from side to side. "Whoa, what a rush," he said, "you were right Summer, that was a real buzz trip. I want to do it again."

"Hold on Lemondrop," Summer said coming to block his path while at the same time motioning Hector to come forward with her tail. "First I'd like you to meet a new friend of mine. This is Hector, say hello."

Hector rolled his eyes. "Please don't treat me like I'm some kind of pet."

Lemondrop eyed the scavenger, a blank expression on his face before suddenly bursting out in laughter. "Okay I must be way more out of it then I thought because it looked as though that there scavenger just spoke." He laughed once again, head bumping Summer, "Just how funny is that?"

"Uh Lemon, he really did just speak."

Lemondrop laughed again, shifting his gaze between the two of them. "Nah it didn't."

"Uh," Hector said drawing the Rainwing's attention, "yes I did."

Another chuckle escaped Lemondrop's lips, though far weaker and his cheerful expression fading and Summer could feel the rising panic forming.

"Lemondrop?"

"What the!?" Lemondrop shouted jumping back, eyeing the scavenger with terrified eyes. "He just spoke again and I understood him. Is this some kind of animus trick? Is…is that thing enchanted or something?" he paused taking a huge gasping breath, circling about the clearing. "Is that monster Darkstalker back? You know they never said what really happen to that fiend."

"Lemondrop!" Summer cried, taking hold of the Rainwing's shoulders, "Listen to me. You have to calm down. This scavenger isn't enchanted, he's not some kind of mad plot from some old forgotten horrible dragon."

"But how can I understand him?" Lemondrop cried the rising panic flowing off him threatening to overwhelm her. "Maybe it was all those crazy fruit. Yeah that's it; they told me this might happen someday, but never being able to understand scavengers."

"Look at me Lemon," Summer said taking a firm grip on his muzzle so they were facing one another. "It's not the fruit doing this; I think it was the stone you just touched that's enchanted."

"Wait," Lemondrop said prying himself free from Summer's grip, his yellow scales turning red, "did you…you knew this would happen."

"I'm sorry," Summer said, "we had to make sure if it was true or not."

"So wait, you touched that stone too?"

Summer nodded.

"So did I," Hector said plainly.

"Oh my…oh my…oh my," Lemondrop stammered stepping back, "I think I'm going to—" the Rainwing suddenly bolted disappearing as his scales blended in with the jungle.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 5

Hector groan, feeling rather annoyed, they had just determine this stone had some kind of spell placed upon it that allowed anyone who touched it to understand one another, and now they only other dragon out there that knew about was this drunken fool. He was about to say something when the silences of the clearing was broken by a wrenching sound of something vomiting…heavily.

After a few fleeting moments, the Rainwing reappeared, his scales a mixture of pale green and yellow, a small layer of slim lined his lower lip and his eyes appeared dead and bloodshot. He came to stand before Hector, his legs wobbling and looked ready to kill over at the slightest moment. "Okay, uh Hector," he said, his foul breath nearly causing Hector to gag, "say something."

"Try doing something about your smelly breath. Do you dragons breathe toxic gas?"

"Okay," Lemondrop said calmly, "its official, I'm dead."

With that, the Rainwing fell to the ground landing with a heavy thud causing Hector to bounce off his feet.

"Oh great," Hector said giving Lemondrop a hefty kick across the face, "the one dragon who just happens to come across to see if this stone really caused us to speak to each other and he goes and dies."

"Oh he's not dead," Summer said with a slight chuckle, "he's always been something of a drama queen." Summer then went to stand before a small pond of rain water, took a small mouth full, moved back to Lemondrop, spitting the water directly in his face.

The Rainwing spat and coughed, staking his head to get rid of the water. He blinked a few time before focusing his gaze on Summermoon. "Oh hey there Summer," Lemondrop said sitting up, "you wouldn't believe the dream I just had. You were there, there was this freaky rock, and…" he paused to gaze down at Hector, then turned back to Summer, the smile gone from his face and was now looking ready to pass out again.

"Oh brother," Hector said slapping his forehead, "not again. If this is how you react to sudden shocks, you'll never get on this honor guard."

"He really does talk," Lemondrop said, "and he's rather rude."

"Don't let him get to you Lemondrop," Summer said eyeing Hector, "Now are you going to be okay?"

"I…I think so," Lemondrop said eyeing the stone wearily as though it were a viper ready to strike. "Though what are we going to do about this? How many other dragons know about this?"

"You're the only other one," Summer said, "I introduced Hector to Peacemaker and Firefly, but neither of them seemed to understand him."

"So it's only those who touch it are effected," Lemondrop said, his scales changing from shades of blue. "Maybe we should take this thing to Starflight."

"Who's Starflight?" Hector asked.

"One of the Dragonets of Destiny," Lemondrop said with a hint of pride in her voice, "he helped to bring an end to the Sandwing war and rescued a number of Rainwing from the clutches of the Nightwings."

"Yes," Summer added, "though it's a shame he's blind."

Hector arched an eyebrow. "How is a blind dragon going to be of any help?"

"Because before he lost his sight," Lemondrop said, "he spend nearly every waking moment with his nose in a scroll, mainly covering the history of Pyrrhia. If there's any dragon who might know about this thing it would be him."

"Then where is he?"

"You sure ask a lot of question for a scavenger," Lemondrop muttered, giving him a strange look.

Hector returned the look with one of anger and would give anything to punch the male dragon square in the jaw. Before he could act on his feelings, Summer came to stand between them glancing down at him saying, "He lives at the Jade Mountain Academy, tending to the school library," she then turned to face Lemondrop narrowing her eyes and pulling back her lips to form a snarl. "Now before either of you say something else that might trigger a useless argument, we should really get going." She then moved to stand behind Hector, "It'll take us about two days to get there."

Hector eyed the Nightwing with a confused look. Just what was she up to? A sudden rush of fear swelled up within him as he took note of how she was reaching out for him.

"Whoa!" Hector shouted jumping clear of her claws. "Just what do you think you're doing?"

"Well I don't have a cage," Summer said in a causal manner, "so I'll have to carry you.

"No way," he snapped angrily, "I'm not about to let you carry me like some cow. And what are the chances of you stabbing me with those claws?"

Summer eyed her paw, curling her fingers, "Geez, I've never thought about it that way. I've always picked up animal this way."

"And how many of those creatures enjoy or even lived through the ride?"

"Okay you might have a point there," Summer said her scales turning purple.

"Whoa," Lemondrop said eyeing her. "When did you learn that?"

"It just kind of happened," Summer replied glancing past her wing, "but honestly Hector, I don't feel right with leaving you on your own. There are far more dangers lurking in the jungle. And what if another dragon spots you? They won't be able to understand you like we can. I promise to be gentle."

"No!" Hector shouted. "Look just point me in the right direction of this mountain and I'll get there on my own."

"Are you beyond mad?" Lemondrop said his scale shifting to startling orange and red hues. "Even if you could make your way out of the jungle, it would take you a month to reach the Jade Mountain on foot."

"I'm afraid Lemondrop is right," Summer said calmly, "carrying you is the only way."

Hector turned his back on Summer, placing his arms across his chest. "I said no."

 _Oh how can such a small puny creature be so strong will and annoying?_

Summer could feel that Lemondrop was just as annoyed, though that could be related to the fact his buzz was quickly fading due to the shock of understanding Hector.

Though she could not admit it openly, she understood how afraid Hector felt. Before she even knew about her gifts it was difficult to be around their live stock, the fear and terror rolling off them taking their toll on her and more often enough spent most her time with the Rainwings as they didn't eat much meat and their emotions ran mainly up beat and cheerful.

She knew how angry Hector felt as well. It was not just the idea of being snatched from the ground like some common piece of prey, but not being in control. There was something else, a lingering sensation of wonder and a bit of excitement, though for what she could not fully grasp.

"Oh this is going to take us forever," Lemondrop's voice ranged out breaking the drowning silence in the air. "Thankfully I have a better idea." Making his way toward a nearby tree, the Rainwing cut loose a thick long vine, then turned to face Summer and to her surprise, wrapped it around her neck, placing the ends about her back.

"There," he said addressing Hector, "now you can ride on her back."

"Lemondrop?" Summer asked an expression of confusion on her face.

"What?" He answered quickly, "Oh this, I once read something in a scroll that scavenger would ride a top the backs of cows while traveling far distances. Crazy I know," he paused with a slight chuckle, "but I figure this would be better."

"You're partly right," Hector said drawing Summer's attention, "they're called horses, not cows."

"Whatever?" Lemondrop commented rolling his eyes.

Summer eyed the vine, twisting her neck about to test its limits. It felt rather strange wearing it. She had seen a number of Nightwing faulting gold or silver objects as a way of standing out or attracting potential mates.

"Well," she said eyeing the scavenger, "what do you think?"

As he turned to glance up at her, Summer could tell he was rather amused by the idea, though attempted to hide it well with a solemn expression saying, "I don't know, are you sure you can handle my weight?"

Summer could not stop herself from laughing. "Please I can carry full grown cows…real cows mind you, so it should be no problem for me," she then laid flat along the ground, position her wings to give Hector something to climb up her side.

Hector appeared hesitant at first, eyeing her with keen interest, though Summer could feel that it was not fear that ruled his heart, but awe.

 _Does he really want to ride on my back?_

"While we're young!" Lemondrop moan feeling annoyed.

Summer shot him an annoyed expression of her own. He wasn't really helping matters. Though it would be far easier to force the issue and just carry Hector normally, the scavenger would never trust or respect her again and until she figured out what to make of this stone, they need to work together. She snapped her head back looking on in surprise to see Hector climbing up her wing and slowly positioned himself at the base of her neck taking a firm grip of the vine. The sight of him sitting there caused a smile to form at how natural he looked, as though they were meant to be together in this way.

Hector returned her gaze, but frowned, narrowing his eyes. "Don't get any ideas Summer," he said, "I'm only doing this because Lemondrop said it would take so long for me to reach this mountain of yours."

"If you say so," Summer said with a sly grin. She could tell he was lying, though about what was unclear.

"We good now?" Lemondrop asked. Picking up the stone, he placed it in a pouch he held hidden between his wings. Arching his back, he then jumped into the air, flapping his wings with powerful thrust, flying off over the tree line.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 6

Hector swallowed a heavy lump in the back of his throat. Though he had seen dragons fly across the sky countless times, this would be the first time he road one. If the idea alone didn't sound crazy enough, he'd be jumping out of his skin with excitement. Wrapping the ends of the vine around his hands, he lowered himself closer to Summer. If her take off was anything like Lemondrop, it was going to be a bumpy ride.

"Ready?" Summer asked.

"Uh…is it too late for me to change my mind?"

"Nope."

With that Summer took to the sky.

Hector felt the air pull against his skin, hair blowing in the wind, and fought the urge to look down, afraid of what he might see…or not see. He hugged Summer's neck, pressing his knees into the her sides wishing this trip was over and was back on solid ground once again.

After a while Summer's flight seemed to even out and found the courage to open his eyes, and though his first impulse was to shut them, Hector found himself entranced by the breath taking view. Lemondrop glided to their right, keeping close, his radiant scales shifting from hues of orange and yellow almost blending in with descending sun. Off in the distance, he could see other dragons flying about, pulling off several deep turns or spins, which made Hector feel a bit sick to his stomach. Pulling his gaze away from the gut wrenching performance he tilted his gaze down a bit, making out the rim of the jungle far off in the distance. _Summer was right; we haven't even reached the edge of the jungle._ Beyond that was the open desert plain. A shallow sigh escaped his lips as he heard stores from elders he pass from time to time of an ancient city buried somewhere beneath the sand. It was a nice dream and fine way to pass the time along, but that was all they were…just stories.

Feeling a bit bolder, Hector relaxed his posture leaning back, he still maintained a steady grip on the vine, truly grateful for that as he nearly jerked as Summer came to a sudden stop, tilting her body so that it seemed as though she were standing. It would have been an amusing sight if it wasn't for the fact he almost slipped down her back.

"Hey, what gives?" he shouted.

Summer didn't answer him at first and before he could ask again, Lemondrop appear behind her taking a similar stance.

"Keep quiet scavenger," Lemondrop whispered.

"Uh…"

"Hello there Scales," he heard Summer say, "what brings you all the way out here?"

"I can say the same about you."

Doing his best, Hector peered beyond Summer's neck to see a yellow dragon hovering before her. He was pleased that the sun was setting behind them as his scales would easily reflect the light and leave him seeing red. It was strange as his tail ended in a stinger commonly found on a scorpion. _Could this be one of those Sandwings I've heard about?_

"There have been sightings of Desert Crocs lately," Scales said eyeing Summer with a confused manner. "What's with the vine?"

Hector quickly snapped his head back, clinging closer to Summer's body, heart pounding. _Please don't him see me._

"Oh this, thought I trying something different. I mean why does everyone need to wear gold and silver when you can go all natural?" Summer said shifting her body a bit and pulling her forelegs back so that her shoulders would conceal more of his body, "But what about the Desert Crocs, do you think there will be another attempt on the Mudwing queen's life?"

"There's been no official proof of that," he heard the Sandwing muttered, "but Queen Thorn doesn't want to take any chances so that's why we've double patrols regardless of Queen Moorhen's disapproval. I was on my way to pick up Blackberry for training when I saw the two of you."

"Oh Lemondrop and I were just heading for the Jade Academy to catch up some late case project."

"Oh really," Scales said sounding a bit disappointed.

 _Can we please wrap this up?_

"Summer," Lemondrop said coming to float close to her, "it's starting to get late and unlike you Nightwings, we Rainwings do not like staying up after sun set."

"Right," Summer said, "take care of yourself Scales and go easy on Blackberry will you, he means well but he pushes himself too hard to prove he's a fierce warrior."

Hector heard a slight chuckle and rolled his eyes. _Will you just get lost already? My hands are killing me._

Hector felt another sudden jerk as Summer turned and flew on, the air rushing past him and glancing over his shoulder he breathed a solemn sigh of relief at the sight of the Sandwing dragon dwindling into the distance.

 _Finally._

Sometime later, as the last remaining slivers of sunlight faded, Summer and Lemondrop drifted toward the ground. It took her a bit more effort to land gracefully with Hector clinging to her back. Once she did, the scavenger slid down her wing, laying flat on his back, arms and legs spread out and breathing heavily.

"That was a close one," Lemondrop said casting his gaze about the clearing they picked to rest for the night. "Who knew we run into Scales all the way out here."

"Do you think we should have mentioned Hector or the stone?" Summer asked laying down next to Hector. "He is a member of our winglet."

"And the son of a proud loyal Sandwing royal guard." Lemondrop replied with a slight snarl in his voice.

Summer took on a confused expression. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"It means if he were to learn about either Hector or the stone, he'd fly off and tell Queen Thorn and she'll come and take them both away."

"Queen Thorn would never do anything like that." Summer snapped.

"Please, Sandwings are well known for hording magical items."

Summer rolled her eyes, turning her gaze away from the Rainwing. It would be pointless to try and auger with him once he set his mind on something. Instead she turned to gaze down at Hector, a warm smile forming on her face. "Well that wasn't so bad," she said with a sly grin, "I hope you weren't too terrified up there."

"Terrified," Hector said looking up at her, "are you kidding? That was amazing."

"Uh?" Lemondrop muttered looking confused. "After all that whining and moaning you did about being carried in the first place?"

"Well that was different," Hector replied sitting up. "You have no idea how many times I would hide away in the forest, gaze up to see you dragons soaring between the clouds and just wish I could be up there with you."

"Really?" Summer asked.

"Yes."

"Well good thing we still have a ways to go," Lemondrop said, "As for me, I'm going to bed, good night you two." With that the Rainwing brought his tail along his side, folded his wings close to his body and began to disappear as his scales blended in with the landscape.

"That is still so weird to me," Hector muttered then turned to gaze up at Summer, a sly grin on his face. "You have to wonder if they pee on one other by accident when they do that."

"I heard that."

Summer chuckled a bit gently unwrapping the vine from her neck. "It is getting late and it's too dangerous to start a fire. Even from this distance, it's possible a group of Nightwings might see it," she paused to position her wing so that it hovered above the ground, "come you can sleep beside me, my wing will keep you hidden and warm."

Hector was hesitated at first, as though the idea of crawling underneath the folds of her wings was the same as entering his own grave, but he had come to trust and in some ways respect this dragon. If Summer had any plans of killing him, he knew she would have done so long before, so swallowing his misgivings, Hector slipped in beneath her wings, a shudder coming over him as she lowered the edge to the ground just enough for a sliver of breeze to slip through.

As he sat there, gazing into the darkness around him, knowing there was nothing more he could do in the matter, he decided it would be best to get some sleep. Laying down, he placed his head against Summer's side, the gentle rhythmic rise and fall of her waist was vary soothing and quickly fell to sleep.

The darkness he awoke to was cold and stifling, swallowing him whole. No matter how far he ran there was no end to it.

"Summer…Lemondrop!" he shouted, yet the sound of his voice only travel a few inches barely higher than a whisper. He clutched his throat gasping for air that would not come forth. "Where am I?"

"How interesting."

Hector turned around, yet there was nothing behind other than darkness. "Who's there?"

There was no answer, only a sensation of cold. Something brushed along his back sending shivers up and down his spine.

"You have been touched by magic," the voice said from behind once more, "I can smell it flowing through you."

Hector spun about once more; reaching for a dagger he knew was not there, facing a threat which lurked in darkness, heart racing to the point of bursting. "Show yourself!"

"How so bold," the voice said drawing closer now, "for one so full of fear!"

Suddenly, a human skull with strands of hair and routing skin clinging to it flashed before him. Blue fire burned within its ghostly eyes, foul breath flowed between its teeth. The sight of such a thing brought forth a wailing scream from the depths of Hector and waved a hand before him. At the same time, a bright flare formed around him, causing the skull to evaporate in a swirl of mist.

"You…" the voice said showing a hint of surprise, "you were not only touched by magic, it flows through you. Could you be the one, the one foretold who shall set me free?"

Hector could fathom any of what was going on. The darkness and cold clung to him like a second skin with no end in sight and now there was this voice all around him sending rivers of chill throughout his body.

"Just what do you—" he began but was interrupted as a whirlwind slammed into his body. It tore against the darkness and forced Hector off his feet. Fear swelled up within him with the thought of being blown away, though as strongly and suddenly as the wind formed, it was gone. Hector fell to his hands and knees, wincing at the hard smack of falling on top of stone.

"Stone?"

Standing, though still felt woozy, as though something was pulling against him, he could see that the darkness was gone, though there was still a deep chill running down his spine as he found himself in a huge open chamber. Several statues carved in the likeness of dragons were position in a ring with their backs facing him, wings unfurled as though they were ready to take flight. In the center of the ring, Hector could make out what appeared to be a woman, her arms up as though she was reeling from some unknown threat, yet the expression appeared to be one of anger.

"Just what happened here?"

"This is the place where my order betrayed me."

Hector turned about, looking for the source of the voice, yet like before it came from all around him.

"Those that I trusted as equals betrayed me, ruled by fear and blind foolish faith, turned on me just as I had reached an important discovery which would have granted our kin vast power and greatly changed the balance of nature." There was a pause as the room was filled with the sound of moans and cries of anguish, and as Hector turned back to the statue his own fear began to rise at the sight of the statue's eyes glowing bright red. "For untold years I have been trapped within this place, waiting for the one foretold in my vision to set me free."

"I…I…" Hector stammered eyeing the statue, fear swelling up throughout his body, "I don't know how."

The glow of the statue's eyes began to flare, small embers rise from the cracks. "Say my name and release me."

"I don't even know who you are," he protested.

"Yes you do," the voice proclaimed, its deep tone bouncing off the walls in a thundering boom, "the truth is buried deep within the core of your mind."

The sound became unbearable and brought his hands up, clamping them against his ears. "Go away demon!"

"Release me!"

"No!" Hector screamed, closing his eyes as if the action alone would be enough to block out this terrible nightmare.


End file.
